Recovery time for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Posted , 7 users are following.
I have been a hairstylist for 30 years. I have been told I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome. My pain is really getting bad and I was told I may not be able to continue doing hair without the surgery.
I need to know realistically how long I will have to be off work for this surgery.
Any hairstylists out there that have had the surgery please tell me how long will my clients have to wait for me?
Im scared to take off more than three weeks but I want the truth of how long it really takes.
Don't need to be a stylist to respond, just thought if there were any out there might know exactly what we do. Im sure its different for everyone.
0 likes, 10 replies
Jezzabelle gayle57299
Posted
I had bilateral surgery last year. I am a nurse. Expected to be back to work in 4 weeks but it took 3 months d/t developing arthritis in one of my wrists - dominant side, of course. Required weeks of PT to regain strength and flexibility but was able to return to work. Still don't have the strength in that side like it was pre-op. Other side healed within the 4 weeks without a glitch. Carpal tunnel pain totally resolved with the surgery and has never returned. Good luck.
lisalisatheone gayle57299
Posted
sumaira73116 lisalisatheone
Posted
Had follow up appoinment nd doc said it can take up to one year to heal fully. I was back to work afyer 3.months. but ppl can be different as well. Good luck
jeremydpbland gayle57299
Posted
As you can see from the comments already there is a lot of individual variation. We are involved in a study at the moment which is looking for predictive factors before surgery that might help to give an idea how long people are likely to be off but it will be a wile before we see results of that. There have been earlier studies suggesting that psychological and employment type factors are very important. The range of time taken to return to normal activities varies from 1-2 days at the shortest to never in the worst cases. We've treated quite a few hairdressers and I reckon the average time to return to work is in the 2-4 weeks range. It's slightly quicker with endoscopic other than open surgery but only by a couple of days on average and it may not be worth seeking out an endoscopic surgeon purely for that. It's important to make sure that the severity is properly assessed before making a decision about surgery and the only way to do that objectively is with nerve conduction studies at present - without those the words 'mild' 'moderate' 'severe' get bandied about willy-nilly and no-one really knows what they mean. If you really need to stay at work it's almost always worth experimenting with local corticosteroid injection at least once before embarking on surgery, though the more severe cases may not respond as well to that (they respond less well to surgery too I'm afraid). To the person who posted that they were told it was 'too late' for surgery - that is a complex issue and you should not be denied surgery on arbitrary grounds. Even in the worst affected groups just under 50% of patients do get significant benefit from the operation and a lot depends on what the symptoms are. Pain and tingling and nocturnal waking tend to improve after surgery regardless of how bad it is while loss of sensation and weakness of the thumb are less likely to recover. Dr J Bland
gayle57299 jeremydpbland
Posted
Thank you for your input. I did have the nerve test done. The results of that showed that mine unfortunately is severe. I've been dealing with it for years trying other methods, hand splint, exercise so I think I'm going to have to try this. I love my job and want to get back to work asap but I trust that I will have a fast recovery. I have always healed pretty quickly. Thank you for your input!
jeremydpbland gayle57299
Posted
Unfortunately the description 'severe' on NCS results can mean anything - you need to see the measurements. If you have never had it injected then that is worth a try before resorting to surgery as long as you can find someone competent to do it - you can always operate on it afterwards and to some extent the response to injection helps to predict how it will do with surgery. JB
jim70956 gayle57299
Posted
I believe that all recovery times are different. I had mine in Sept 2016 and although there were some bits of pain as a result of the surgery I did not have anything near the excrutiating pain I was having pre surgery. I had put up with it for many years and my median nerve was very badly compressed, so it took some months for the pins and needles in the tips of my fingers to clear.
I am retired so returning to work was never an issue, but I could have done so if I had to. After surgery you must keep your hand busy, nothing to heavy though. I guess that hairdressing requires both hands, but I “dont think its heavy work” you would find the hand movement that you need for your job could be a good form of exercise for your hand.
Go ahead and get it done, theres nothing to be afraid of. I sat up and watched him do mine, it was very interesting.
Dont put up with that horrible pain any longer.
good luck.
Meg77 gayle57299
Posted
Hi. I have been a hairstylist for 20 years. I had carpal tunnel surgery on my dominant hand in Jan 2017. It was successful. I missed 3 and a half weeks of work, which I thought was good.
Then 3 months ago in April I had my left hand done. I have been off work ever since. It's been hell. I have constant throbbing on my thumb pad and I still can't feel my ring and middle fingers. It is way worse than before I had the surgery. It has been physically, mentally, and financially e xausting. I wish u the best. It's a 50/50 gamble!!
gayle57299 Meg77
Posted
Meg77 gayle57299
Posted
Hi. I have been a hairstylist for 20 years. I had carpal tunnel surgery on my dominant hand in Jan 2017. It was successful. I missed 3 and a half weeks of work, which I thought was good.
Then 3 months ago in April I had my left hand done. I have been off work ever since. It's been hell. I have constant throbbing on my thumb pad and I still can't feel my ring and middle fingers. It is way worse than before I had the surgery. It has been physically, mentally, and financially e xausting. I wish u the best. It's a 50/50 gamble!!